In Frazier investigation's wake, staff changes at Manatee High

Published: Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 3:41 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, August 22, 2013 at 4:17 p.m.

MANATEE COUNTY - Manatee High's top administrators were split up first. And after criminal charges were filed last week against four staff members connected to the flagship high school, those who had already been transferred from Manatee High were joined by two spouses of those implicated, two school resource officers and two secretaries.

Of nine staff members suspended or transferred from Manatee since police concluded an investigation of groping allegations made against former coach Rod Frazier in April, several appear to be involved or connected to the inquiry. That investigation included questions about who may have known about Frazier's behavior but did not report it.

Superintendent Rick Mills has said personnel moves were needed to wipe the slate clean at Manatee, and give remaining students and staff an opportunity to move on from what has been a high-profile and contentious year for the high school.

“It was not a good situation over there,” Mills said. “I made the changes to help the school move forward and heal.”

Others — including staff and current and former students — say the personal relationships of the former regime created a climate on campus where people either feared retribution if they complained, or felt that their concerns were ignored by a tight-knit administration.

Manatee High assistant principals Gregg Faller and Matthew Kane — recommended for charges of failure to report child abuse this spring along with Assistant Superintendent Bob Gagnon and former school investigator Debra Horne — were moved to new high schools in July.

Gagnon's wife, Melissa, also an assistant principal at Manatee, was moved to Braden River High School.

After charges were filed last week by the state, the district granted transfer requests from test coordinator Susan Faller and teacher Jessica Kane, the wives of Gregg Faller and Matthew Kane, Mills said.

Also transferred this year: the Gagnons' baby sitter and Manatee High secretary Beth Harmount; longtime secretary Loyda Perez, who was interviewed by police; and two school resource officers who have maintained they knew nothing of Frazier's alleged misconduct.

The police investigation of Frazier was prompted by a Herald-Tribune story on Feb. 7 about the district's quiet investigation of the football coach.

A history of complaints

Police records show that multiple teachers made repeated complaints about Frazier's behavior in the past five years to Kane, Faller and Gagnon.

Complaints included allegations of Frazier pulling a student on his lap, sending inappropriate text messages and touching students on the buttocks.

Students told police they did not report incidents that made them uncomfortable because they were afraid no one would believe them.

In July, Frazier was charged with seven counts of battery and three counts of interfering with a student's attendance.

Manatee High football coach Steven Gulash said he witnessed Frazier push a water bottle between a female student's legs, but heard more concerns of impropriety from other teachers.

During an interview in February, police officers questioned why Gulash did not contact the state, as is required by law when any Florida citizen has reason to suspect child abuse.

“Mr. Gulash stated that he reported it to his school administration and that he lost faith in reporting it to anyone because it appeared to him that nothing was occurring with the complaints that other teachers were making,” a report states.

Guidance counselor Steven Rinder, who reported concerns to Manatee High principal Don Sauer in November, recalled Horne explaining to him that Bob Gagnon had ordered her to end an investigation.

“Mr. Rinder stated that as soon as he heard those words from Mrs. Horne, it made him feel uncomfortable because he knew the school district's investigation would go nowhere,” police reports state.

Tight-knit leadership fuels distrust

Most of the Manatee High's top leadership was hired by Gagnon when he was principal from 2007 to 2012.

They were a closely connected bunch, and many of their relationships would have been violations of a new nepotism and fraternization policies enacted by the School Board this spring.

At Manatee High, Gagnon supervised Faller, whom the former principal attended Southern Connecticut University with and whom Gagnon worked with at the Lake County Boy's Ranch and the Manatee County Police Athletic League charter school. Gagnon also supervised Kane, whom he developed a close relationship with when both men worked at Lakewood Ranch High School.

Shortly after Gagnon was promoted to assistant superintendent in 2012, his wife, Melissa, became assistant principal at Manatee High.

His successor was Sauer, who also had worked at Lakewood Ranch High School with Gagnon and Kane.

The Manatee High administration was perceived as a unified force, former guidance counselor Christina Conley said. Issues could not be shared with one administrator without others learning of it.

That climate became amplified when administrators were implicated in the Frazier investigation by police this spring, and it became known that some staff members had spoken to police about their administrators.

Teachers stayed in their halls as staff figured out who to trust.

“It was horrible,” Conley said. “You know what made it so bad? There was no predictability in that place. You never knew what to expect when you went to somebody.”

Police records support the idea that witnesses in the Frazier case were intimidated by certain school administrators.

Mills, who implemented the new nepotism policies shortly after arriving here in March, said he is well aware of the personal relationships at Manatee High.

“All those issues were divisive for that school,” Mills said. “It was not a healthy environment.”

Police officers transferred

Last Friday, one day after prosecutors leveled their failure to report child abuse charges, Bradenton Police Chief Michael Radzilowski received a visit from Manatee Schools investigator Troy Pumphrey.

Pumphrey, acting on behalf of Superintendent Rick Mills, asked Radzilowski to reassign two Manatee High school resource officers because two staff members were uncomfortable working with the officers.

At first, Radzilowski said he resisted the request since their was no formal complaint and it seemed to be motivated by personal issues. But the chief said he eventually granted the request, moving Officers Danny Bench and Fredy Ordonez to different schools.

“We just decided that we don't want our officers to be anywhere where they are not wanted,” Radzilowski said.

Radzilowski also confirmed that the police department is revisiting an allegation that a student told an officer concerns about Frazier.

“Our Office of Professional Standards is relooking at that one specific allegation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the district's internal investigation of Frazier continues, and will likely be completed by mid-September, Mills has said. Gregg Faller, Matthew Kane, Bob Gagnon and Horne, as well as staff attorney Scott Martin, remain on paid leave.

In addition to one felony count of failure to report child abuse, Kane, Faller and Gagnon have been charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report and lying to police, also a misdemeanor.

Mills maintains that the district investigation, and recent personnel moves at Manatee High, will allow the school to heal.

“This is not payback,” he said this week. “This is not a vindictive decision. We are trying to move this district forward, as one team.”

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.